Finger-ring.



Patented Oct. 29, I90l.

F. R. STAFFORD.

FINGER RING.

(Application led Dec. 19. 1900.\

(No Model.)

MT/dE,

UNITED STATES f PATENT OEEIOE.

FRANK R. STAFFORD, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODEISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO,

STAFFORD da RUSSELL MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SACO, MAINE,

A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

Heleen-tunic.l

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 685,653, dated October 29, 1901.

Application led December 19, 1900. Serial No. 40,434. (No model.) I

- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANKR. STAFFORD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Finger-Rings, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

Like letters indicate like parts.

Figure 1 is a top planviewlofthe tool for gaging the stock for the ring-blank and for holding the same while it is cut by a suitable plunger into the desired lengths. Fig. 2 is a top plan View of 'oneof the ring-blanks from which myimproved filled ring is made. Fig. 3 is an edge or side view of the same. Fig. 4 is a viewn vertical section of the drawplate and plungers, together with the stock therein undergoing the drawing operation. Fig. 5 shows an enlarged cen'tral'longitudinal section (on the minor axis) of the cupped-up ring-blank produced by the operation illustrated in Fig. 4 at a time just before the bottom portion thereof has been perforated. Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the blank after it has been drawn and perforated by the operation illustrated in Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is an end view of the same. Fig. 8'is a top plan view of the central piece which has been removed from the ring-blank by the drawing and perforating operation illustrated in Fig. 4C. Fig. 9 is an end view of the same. Fig. 10 is a top plan view of the drawn and' perforated blank shown in Fig. 6 afterit has been opened out by aA proper tool intothe form of a ring. Fig. 11 is a View of said ring as seen on line n; of Fig 10. Fig. 12 shows in diametrical section the blank illustrated in Fig. 6 after the same has been circumferentially grooved near its ends and the outer surface has been convexed. Fig. 18 is adiametrical sectional view of the grooved and convexed ring shown in Fig. 12 after the sides of the grooves have been swaged into contact. Fig. 14 is an enlarged sectional view illustrating the closure of the groove. Fig. 15 is a diametrical sectional view of a ilat ring formed by die action from the convex ring illustrated in Figs.

5o 13 and 14. Fig. 16 shows my improved ring,

partly in elevation and partly in section, in position upon a finger.

4In the drawings, Figs. 5', 11,12, 13, and 15 are much enlarged in orderto show more clearly the construction of my improved ring, and Fig. 14 is even more enlarged for the same purpose.

Myinveution is an improvement in linger- -rings of the kind commercially known as filled7 rings-that is,rings Which are made of gold-.plated stock, the body of the rings being made of composition or base metal and having all its exposed surfaces of gold. My improved ring is not only a filled ring, but it is made ywithout any transverse seam, whereas filled rings as heretofore commonly made have been formed of stock in the form of a band or strip having two opposite ends, which are butted together and united by solder.

My invention relates to a jointless filled ring whose outer plate or covering of'gold is transversely stretched, so that the annular edges of said outer plate or covering come into contact with the adjacent annular edges of the inner plate or covering of gold, as hereinafter particularly described and as specifically set forth in the claims.

In the drawings, A is a steel bar on the edges of which, on the top, are two guideplates B B, held in place by screws, as shown. C is a gage-plate having a slot at one end and a half-round seat at the other end. The gage-plate C is mounted upon the top of the bar A and is movable thereon, so that the end which has the half-round `seat can be brought to any line of the 'index D, Kon thetop of said bar,) and when the gage-plate C has been so adjusted imposition it isheld in place by means of the thumb-screw E, which passes through said slot of the gageplate C into the bar A, all as shown in Fig. 1.

The stock from which my improved ring is made is in the form of a bar F, having a central longitudinal layer of composition or base metal with an outer layer or plate of gold on two opposite sides of said central layer and united thereto, as usual, by solder, oneof said gold plates being thicker than the other.

The stock has a half-round forward end, as seen in top plan in Fig. 1, andis inserted be- IOO tween the guide-plates' B B and pushed along upon the bar A until said half-round forward end is seated in. the concavity of the gageplate C. To determine the precise length of the blank or section to be cut from said strip of stock, the inneredge of the gage-plate C is moved to the proper. point on the index D and is held in such position by the thumbscrew E. A plunger (not shown) descends with power vertically upon said strip of stock and cuts off a ring-blank G, forming the inner end of the blank Gin ahalf-round shape and at the same time forming the forward end of the strip of stock in a half-round shape, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the openings ct ct in said figure indicating where the said plunger has operated and removed portions of said stock. The ring-blank so formed and cut o is shown in top plan in Fig. 2 and in side elevation in Fig. 3, in the latter of which the blank is seen to be made up of a central strip or layer Z) of base metal or composition, the upper layer c of gold plate, and the lower layer d of gold plate, thinner, however, than the plate c. This blank G is next operated upon as illustrated in Fig. 4. Adraw-plate H has an aperture ethroughit with an upwardlyflaring mouth. This aperture as seen from above has a narrow oblong shape, with rounded ends. The ring-blank G is laid centrally upon the draw-plate H, with the thin gold plate d uppermost, the major axis of said oblong blank coinciding with the major axis of said aperture and the minor axis of said blank coinciding with the minor axis of said aperture. A plunger J, moved by power, descends upon the blank G and crowds it down into the aperture e of the draw-plate H until the blank G is sufficiently cupped and drawn thereby and until its bent bottom portion is seated upon the end of the plunger I. The plunger I has its lower end I concentrically enlarged, and the lower extremity of said end I is rmly held against downward movement or displacement by any suitable means. The plunger I and its end I are centrally, longitudinally, and continuously perforated, as seen at f, Fig. 4, the shape and size of said perforations being such as shown in Fig. 8. The plunger I is of a shape and size to loosely fit in the aperture e of the draw-plate H. Then continuing descent and pressure of the plunger .I perforates the bottom of the cupped blank G, removing a piece, (shown at K in Figs. 8 and 9,) which removed piece K so perforated orpunched out is forced down into the openingf of the plungerI I' and is waste, gradually moved along by the succeedin g operations and passing through said openingf to the loor or into a proper receptacle. The plunger I I is then moved upward and its upper end forces the drawn blank out through the Haring mouth of the aperture e of the draw-plate H.

The vertical dotted lines in Fig. 5 indicate the portion of the cupped blank which is removed, constituting the piece K of Figs. S and 9. The horizontal dotted line in said iigure indicates where said cupped and perforated blank is cut transversely by a saw or other proper tool or instrument. Said Fig. 5 is made on an enlarged scale in order more plainly to show the cupping and drawing effect upon the blank caused by the operation illustrated in Fig. 4. and how the bottom of the cup is disposed of. The punched or perforated blank so produced is shown at G in Figs. 6 and 7, where it is seen that said blank is oblong in shape,with rounded ends and with a narrow oblong opening g', said opening being caused by the removal of the piece K from the blank G, as already explained. The next operation is to open said oblong aperture by a mandrel or other suitable means into the circular-ring form G", with the central circular aperture g, as'seen in Fig. 10.

In Fig. 11 I show on an enlarged scale the ring after it has been shaped into a true circle, said Fig. 1l being a sectional view on line a: fr of Fig. 10. Here is seen the base-metal central portion b, the outer thick layer or covering of `gold plate c, and the inner thin layer or covering of gold plate CZ. The next operation is to form from the ring G" the ring G". (Shown in Fig. 12.) It will be here seen that the outer covering or plate c of gold has been somewhat convexed, as shown at c. This is done by turning or any other suitable means. It is also seen that a circumferential V-shaped groove has been formed (by milling or otherwise) in the edges of the base metal b, as shown at h, and that the edges of the gold plate cl have been beveled. The next operation is to form from the ring G" the ring Gi". (Shown in Fig. 13.) It will be here seen that the sides of the V-shaped circumferential grooves h have been brought into contact, so that said sides of said grooves meet in a line h', the filling of base metal concaved, as seen at b', and the gold plate c is transversely stretched and still further convexed, as seen at c". The operations illustrated by Figs. 12, 13, and 14 are preferably performed by rolling or may be done by swaging, burnishing, or other suitable methods well known for this kind of work.

As is apparent from an inspection of Fig. 1l, the outer gold plate c is of the same width as the inner gold plate d. By the rolling operation, whose result is shown in Fig. 13, it is seen that while the inner tubular gold plate d remains of the same width as before the outer gold plate c, though originally of the same width as the inner gold plate cl, `measures much more on its periphery transversely, having been made concavo-oonvex in crosssection. This is due to a transverse stretching of the outer gold plate, caused by the action of the rolls and resulting in the meeting of the annular edge of said outer gold plate with the annular edge of said inner gold plate. Such transverse stretching of the outer gold IOO IIO

plate to meet theinner gold plate I believe is a novelty in the art of manufacturing filled wings.

1f it is desired to have a nat ring instead of a convexed ring, such as is shown in Figs. 13 and 14, I take the ring Gi" shown in said figures, and by swaging, rolling, or other suitable treatment force the ring Giv into the form GV shown in Fig. l5, Where it is seen that the gold plate c of the ring Gfiv has been shaped with square corners and the lling of base metal has been changed to a corresponding shape b, the closure of the sides of the grooves 7L together being indicated by the lines h". It is obvious, however, that the foregoing method of manufacturing rings is applicable to rings of solid metal-as gold, silver, and other metals-or that rings may be cut from stock which is tubular in shape and which is either solid or made with outer and inner coverings of gold.

The rolling or swaging operation whereby the grooves h of the ring are closed as above specified brings the beveled edges of the gold plate c into absolute contact with the beveled edges of the gold plate d, forming only a mere line on the upper and lower edges of the ring, which by burnishing down becomes invisible and all the base metal is wholly concealed.

By this method of manufacturing rings the amount of waste is reduced to a minimum, the outer plate of gold is graduated in thickness, and the cost of the manufacture is much smaller than that of other methods.

The essential novelty of this invention is the forming of the stock with an annular V- shaped groove and rolling or swaging said stock, so that the sides of said groove meet. It is obvious that this grooving may be made by drawing the stock in the form of a strip or wire through a draw-plate with a suitablyshaped aperture, and after the sides of the groove have been closed together by swaging or other suitable treatment the stock, still being in the form of a strip or wire, (halfround or of other desirable form in cross-section,) can be cut in' lengths, bent into a ring, and its ends soldered together and finished in the usual manner; but such or similar modilications would be within my invention.

I claim as a novel and useful invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. The improved jointless ring herein described, having a central portion of base metal, plano-convex in cross-section, an inner tubular gold plate united to said base-metal portion on the plane side thereof and a separate outer gold plate united to said base metal on the convex side thereof and crescentshaped in cross-section, the edges of the outer gold plate meeting the edges of the inner gold plate and constituting the edges of the nished ring,substantially as specified.

2. The improved jointless ring herein described, having a central portion of base metal, plano-convex in cross-section, an inner tubular gold plate united to said base-metal portion on the plane side thereof and having beveled edges, and a separate outer gold plate united to said base metal on the convex side thereof and crescent-shaped in cross-section, the edges of the outer gold plate meeting the beveled edges of the inner gold plate and constituting the edges of the finished ring,` substantially as spe'ced;

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK R. STAFFORD.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR P. JOHNSON, WARREN R. PERCE. 

